G-I-N Library partner EOI

The G-I-N Board and CEO are committed to improving our library service, in keeping with the needs of our members.

We are keen to hear ideas and proposals from potential partners, with the capability of developing and/or publishing our guideline library, which may include the potential to develop commercial services.

Background

The Guidelines International Network currently hosts one of the world’s largest international libraries of clinical practice guidelines and tools to aid guideline developers with their adaptation and implementation. This library is made up of links to the original documents, mostly provided by our member organisations.

The library was established in 2003, with the aim of providing access to existing clinical practice guidelines, guidelines in development, guideline reviews, guideline methodologies, tools and templates. This resource provides members the opportunity to learn from work that has gone before and continuously improve the quality of clinical practice guidelines in a more efficient and robust way. (G-I-N annual report 2003)

Aim

We are now eager to take our library to a new level, reflective of the current digital environment to provide a more flexible tool for our members, potentially with value-added services. This is likely to require improved interfaces, possible APIs, more flexible search options and further enhancements to include a registry of guidelines in development. Additionally, we want to ensure that the valuable information accessible through our library portal can be broadly disseminated in line with G-I-N’s mission.

Our vision for the G-I-N library is for it to be the most comprehensive guideline portal and registry for planned guidelines, which will be a valuable resource, by eliminating duplication of effort in the guideline development process. It may also bring a commercial benefit, by providing an income stream to both G-I-N and the partner, by offering additional services, enabling G-I-N to better serve our audience.

Potential areas for partnership

In terms of establishing a partner for the G-I-N Library, we are seeking expressions of interest from groups who would like to work with G-I-N to achieve the following:

Area 1: Dissemination or publication of the G-I-N Library

The G-I-N library currently provides access to information relating to over 6500 international guidelines, making it one of the largest (and longest running) guideline portals in the world. The library is currently accessible via the G-I-N website, with some functionality within the library being available as an exclusive members-only benefit.

In addition, we have significant experience and expertise in working with our network of guideline developers to collect and store information on guideline activities from across the globe. We believe this is a resource which would appeal to a broad audience of guideline developers, healthcare professionals, policy makers and advisors internationally. As such, we are seeking a partner who may be interested in assisting us to scale up our dissemination activities for the current library.

Area 2: Technological upgrade of the G-I-N Library to facilitate interoperability

There is a substantial amount of information accessible through the G-I-N library which may be of use in derivate products built upon the library, or for integration of G-I-N library data with other applications. It is likely this would require a technical investment in the G-I-N library to ensure data is structured in such a way as to be shareable, keeping in line with G-I-N standards and best practice in guideline development. This area holds incredible potential for making a true difference in healthcare and we are open to discussing the potential of the G-I-N library as part of the evolving evidence ecosystem with an innovative partner.

Area 3: Development of an international registry for Guidelines

Registries of guidelines are an ideal way to enable guideline developers to determine whether there are planned or ongoing guidelines in development in relevant areas of interest. By providing this information, different guideline development organisations may be able to collaborate and share data, reduce duplication and develop guidelines more efficiently. Although there are a number of registries available, these are normally jurisdictional and there is no one standard registry available for guideline developers (such as PROSPERO for systematic reviews). As the only international network of guideline developers and the largest membership-based organisation in this field, we believe we are best positioned to establish this registry. We are looking for expressions of interest from potential partners, collaborators, funders or disseminators to assist us with this work.

Eligibility for Partnership

At G-I-N we have a strict conflict of interest policy in place, and any potential partner will need to align with the G-I-N vision, mission and values.

Interested parties should contact the G-I-N CEO by 16th June 2019 to submit an initial expression of interest, along with an overview of the area/s in which they are interested and a broad overview of how they would like to contribute. A call will then be scheduled to discuss your interest in more detail.

G-I-N reserves the right not to appoint a partner at the end of this exploratory process.

Elaine Harrow

The Guidelines International Network is formally constituted as a Scottish Guarantee Company under Company Number SC243691 and recognised as a Scottish Charity under Scottish Charity Number SC034047 with its Registered Office at J. & H. Mitchell W.S., 51 Atholl Road, Pitlochry, Perthshire PH16 5BY, Scotland.

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